same family was busy trying to bribe witnesses and make those that wouldn’t cooperate disappear.
The case against Mykonos was as solid as it could get so long as Marie was alive to testify.
Mykonos had bought the girl when she was sixteen.
For three and a half years, he sold her out as he saw fit. When she stepped out of line, or tried to escape his clutches, he made her pay. The last attempt at his idea of discipline nearly killed her.
At that point, Olivia stepped in. She’d been asked to return a favor. Be Marie’s shadow while the right people gathered their case and the girl could recover from her physical injuries. As her shadow, Marie never knew Olivia existed. She’d been by Marie’s side while she convalesced in the hospital and again when she was in the rehabilitation center. Her protective custody was taken care of by the federal marshals, but that didn’t mean Olivia wasn’t watching and following. And now, when tensions were high and the gavel was about to drop on the accused, moves would be made.
Navi, Mykonos’s “cousin,” had a presidential suite at the hotel. If he was a good little criminal, and Olivia already knew he was, the man and his entourage would be visible tonight. After all, they were all upstanding men with nothing to hide. And staying tucked away, out of sight, would bring suspicion to their activities. Navi knew he was being watched. Any “family” had a team assigned to them.
Since Navi was the biggest fish, Olivia was tracking him.
And the teams knew nothing about her.
Olivia scrolled through pictures and names and profiles, most of them Russian. Not Russian American, not born there and raised here . . . but born, lived, and killed Russian. Filthy rich, dirty money, mafia that lived and breathed by their own code.
With a tap on the screen, the images she’d been studying disappeared and a video game replaced them.
She lifted herself off her perch and left the lounge. The casino was picking up.
Families skirted the perimeter of the gaming sections with children in hand. Parents were not allowed to stop and toss even a quarter in a machine while their children stood by and watched. Nevada gaming did have its laws, loose as they were about everything other than gambling.
Olivia moved closer to the elevator tower that accessed the highest-price suites and waited. For nearly an hour, she moved her location to avoid suspicion. If she’d had even a little notice as to what hotel Navi was going to use, she would have set up something in the man’s room to alert her to his actions. But that hadn’t been possible, so now she was doing this the hard way.
Eventually, the hard way paid off.
Navi’s arrival on the ground floor of the hotel was hard to miss. Two men the size of small school buses flanked him, and one long-legged brunette hung on his arm like he’d paid for her.
If there was something Olivia prided herself on, it was her ability to gauge people and her surroundings. Navi’s men both had weapons, an easy deduction since they were obviously bodyguards. Their eyes were on the move and assessing the situation as they walked beside their boss. Navi wore a wedding ring, but his female companion did not. Men like Navi married for the social expectation and to bring legitimacy to their children’s names. Not to stay faithful to their wives.
Olivia stayed well beyond the eyes and ears of Navi’s party and watched as they walked into a steak house. She waited a few minutes before meandering by the entrance of the restaurant. When she did, she noticed the bodyguards taking a seat in the waiting area while Navi and the girl disappeared inside.
By her estimate, she had at least an hour and a half before Navi would emerge. She’d do a quick check inside the restaurant to ensure Navi and the girl were dining alone or make note of anyone they may have joined, and then retreat to watch him later.
She waited for a larger party to enter the restaurant and walked in quietly behind them. With her face diverted from the bodyguards, Olivia did a quick redirect and headed toward the restroom. She found a stall, waited a full minute, flushed, and emerged to wash her hands. When she left, she moved into the restaurant and looked around. It wasn’t long before an employee approached her.